March 2018

March was a fun month! I was able to go to my good friend Jodi Huish's Birthday brunch, and meet together with friends for breakfast at the beginning of the month. I love my family but it is a nice break when I can go visit with friends and be uplifted by their positive outlooks and sweet personalities. I have realized I gain a lot of perspective and compassion when I am around other women/men from all different walks of life. I am grateful for my friends who are mindful of me and who reach out through service, phone call, or even just a simple smile letting me know they care. Of course all the normal happenings occurred around here and we are busy as ever with kids activities, but things are good.... stressful maybe, tiring yes, but good! We decided to join two of our friends and their families in Newport for a fun Spring break week at the beach. We did all our favorite things and even got shown more by the other families we had never tried. The weather was as cold as it's ever been, but that didn't stop the kids and even Jon from getting in the water. Olivia didn't love the wind so I kept her wrapped up most of the time. It was fun and relaxing even though we lost Sophia during a trip to Huntington beach one afternoon. It was so scary and I am so thankful my heavenly father was watching out for her and prayers were answered. I know I couldn't be a mom with out the promptings of the holy ghost and the love of my heavenly father. After we got back we celebrated my brother Tyler's birthday as well as our sweet Wyatt's birthday who are only a day apart! He was so excited to turn 6! He got a new big boy bike, and other fun things he has had his eye on! Wyatt loves the color orange, loves to click and make noises with his lips and tongue, loves to talk in made up languages, loves to play ball of any kind with his dad or the big boys (Bentley and his friends are so kind to include him), he is handsome, smart, looks up to his dad, and has the best smile! He is thoughtful and gives the best hugs! He often times brings me a sweet picture he drew telling me he loves me. We are so lucky to have Wyatt in our family! Grandma Anderson also had a birthday at the end of this month and we were able to FaceTime her and wish her a happy birthday! The boys are loving playing baseball even though it is a tough slow sport to watch as a parent. Bentley has pitched and played well in any position he is put in. We are still working on his swing but he hits pretty consistently. Wyatt has a great powerful hit but is still learning how to play the positions out in the field. Bailey is really improving with her singing and gymnastics. she has been practicing for her spring vocal performance and also decided to try out for her school talent show. She has learned one handed cartwheels, and back walk overs. Sophia is a great little dancer and memorizes the moves her teacher gives her. She has become quite opinionated and it takes all the patience I have to let her do things herself. Even if they are things that she can't do. I was able to take Sophia and Olivia to the zoo for the first time ever. Sophia loved al the animals but her favorites were the giraffe, monkeys, and horse. We were lucky to join up with Wyatt sine he was on a field trip there with his kindergarten class. Olivia has finally started rolling over, gets excited to see us when we come into view or she can hear our voices, and has started trying different foods. She is a master at holding the food and spitting it out and makes quite the mess but I will keep working with her. She is beautiful, her hair is a reddish brown, and her smile is big and bright. Jon is getting geared up to head into his busy season so we hope he has success there. He is a hard worker and also spends time playing with the kids any chance he gets! Probably the biggest change this month was having our ward split and receiving new callings. Jon was asked to be the Elders Quorum President which presides over all the men and families in the ward. I was asked to be the visiting teaching coordinator and birthday specialist. I help get reports of who is being visited and what partnerships are working or need to be changed. I also give a small gift and recognize the women in the ward on their birthday. Just when we thought we were getting the hang of our callings we had LDS general conference and several changes were made to the church. We had such a wonderful experience sustaining the new prophet Russel M. Nelson. I have a testimony that he truly is called of God to hold the keys of the priesthood and be the lords mouth piece here on the earth. During this conference there were many talks on forgiveness, motherhood, genealogy, faith, temples, and more wonderful topics. I felt the spirit with each talk given. During this conference though Jon and I found out that they were making some changes to the way we do things and some of those changes affected our callings. Jon currently has no calling now and mine has changed and I am in limbo knowing what exactly I am to do while the figure out the details. The church is true and the Lord is preparing all of us for the Saviors second coming in small and great ways! We are to love and care for our families and our neighbors. I feel blessed to be guided by our church leaders and can feel the love they have for me and my family. Several new temples were announced and will be built in the coming years in Russia, Philippines, india, nicaragua, virginia, layton, and one more I can't remember. Conference was on Easter weekend so we also were able to be with family and celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Because he lives so will we. It brought tender feelings as we lost my brother Kevin just over a year ago. I know he lives and I am grateful for this knowledge that I will see him again.